Hy Lit Radio
There are several places I go to when I'm in the mood for oldies (actual oldies-- to me, Billy Joel's "Big Shot" isn't an oldie). All are accessible to me only online.
The two main places are WLNG Sag Harbor and Hy Lit Radio.
Admittedly WLNG accounts for about 60 percent of that Oldies listening, because to me the station offers that personality-driven "sharing the moment in time" radio experience I've craved since the age of three. This craving used to be satisfied by any number of what we now call "terrestrial radio stations" 24 hours a day. While Philadelphia does still have a small handful of live jocks who on their own would be worth my listening time, they're unfortunately for me on stations I can't stand for about a dozen reasons.
I, like millions of other Americans, listen to radio to be both entertained and kept company. Talk radio-- when it's good and when it's live-- gets the job done. (Same with Sports Talk.) WLNG usually gets that job done, and satisfies that craving of mine for great full-service radio. **If** the music is good, an automated station can at least entertain me. It doesn't extinguish loneliness. For the most part, Hy Lit Radio is an automated station without live personalities. That's completely understandable, given the economics I'm sure Sam finds himself faced with with regard to the operation. I don't **expect** an independent Internet-only venture to have live talent around the clock. When Sam does go live for his remote broadcasts, Hy Lit Radio **does** indeed sound exciting. That, when coupled with the great music (which Hy Lit Radio always has) makes for great listening.
I don't agree that Hy Lit Radio sounds anything like ordinary radio, at least not in 2010. For one thing, I've never, ever had to sit through seven minutes of uncreative spots on Hy Lit Radio. That alone pretty much ends the discussion for me! Then again, if securing advertisers would help Sam finance even a part-time jock schedule, I'd be all for the trade-off as a listener. But the music selection is at least twice as wide as anything on mainstream, Dinosaur Radio today. Not as wide as WLNG is, but I think WLNG's variety is sometimes too "all over the place." Hy Lit Radio combines focus and variety. Today's radio wizards would have us thinking that statement is oxymoronic. They're wrong. "Focus" doesn't necessarily mandate a 375-song rotation.
And if I may "geek it up" for a moment-- the audio processing on Hy Lit Radio blows away anything available to me on AM/FM, the Internet, and certainly satellite. I dig great audio; I realize the average listener couldn't care less. But I notice, and I appreciate it.
Don't discount the "Hy Lit" name either. It **is** a big deal to many of us. While Hy is gone, I think Sam's done a phenomenal job transforming Hyski's legacy into a brand. If for a moment I thought Hy wouldn't have wanted that, I'd be the first to call it despicable. But I know for a fact Hy **was** totally into this, and spent hours working with Sam to create this in the venture's early days. To me, that makes the whole thing really, really cool.
Is Hy Lit Radio in and of itself all that "innovative?" Not really. But it is good, damn good. And with the bar for music radio set so, so low right now-- Hy Lit Radio certainly is worth a healthy chunk of my listening time. Once I'm able to get it in the car-- when I'm more concerned about cranking the hits and less about being "kept company"-- Hy Lit Radio will likely surpass WLNG for my total Oldies listening hours.
